Emergence!

  The first seeds sown outdoors in 2019 have emerged!  “Green Arrow” peas have sprouted and will soon be reaching their support fence.  The edging of miniature tulips on the left is filling in nicely, too.    And I can see a few short rows of pak choy “Bo Pak” and kale “Tuscan Baby”   emerging as well.  On the north fence, the “Sweet Magnolia” peas are popping up, too.   Seeing these new ribbons of green spurs me on to get the rest of the beds prepared for planting, but right now, some beds are home to the overflow of the hardening off benches.    Everything in the first two rounds of greenhouse flats is now outdoors, and the greenhouse is being refilled from flats in the basement.  There’s room to transplant again, but that won’t happen as long as good weather is the case.  We’ve had three consecutive days of lovely weather, and I hardly know how to behave!  Gardens are being tidied, shrubs clipped and plants moved at a hectic pace.  Daffodils are opening faster than I can record their names.  Even the rhubarb decided it was safe to peek out.    The leaves are only about the size of an egg, but they are definitely here.  Of course, my impatient self has already ordered 4 new plants, but it appears that two of the current  plants are not going to emerge, so additional plants aren’t really a bad thing.  And can one have two much rhubarb?  At $4.00 for 5 stalks, excess can be easily sold around here.  I think the new plants will go in the berry rows, rather than the soggy interior border where the rhubarb struggles.  I’d thought since they need lots of water, they’d be happy there, but in winter they are not.

There’s no sign of the broad beans, although I did find a single bean laying on the ground twenty feet from where they were planted when I cleaned the south interior border!  I wonder how that happened? The shallots are making top growth and the garlic is looking terrific.  The lovage shot up almost overnight to a height of 6″!   I’d say Spring has definitely arrived, and although there may be a setback or two ahead weather-wise,  the forecast is looking excellent!  Hope the flowers are blooming wherever you may be!

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